Original Instructional Plan : Life cycle of a Frog

Instructional Plan : Performance Based Learning
Duration: 45 minutes (3 times)

Title: Life cycle of a Frog

Submitted by: Sooyeun Kim
Grade Level: K -1st
ELD Level: Intermediate
Special Education Level: N/A

Objectives:
Content Objective: To understand the scientific terms of the life cycle of a frog.
Language Objective: To write a procedural writing about a life cycle of a frog.
Learning Objective: To use a cycle diagram to create the life cycle of a frog.

Goal 2, Standard 2: To use English to achieve academically in all content areas. Students will use English to obtain, process, construct, and provide subject matter in spoken and written form.
Indicators: Construct a chart or other graphic showing data.
Read a story and represent the sequence of events (through pictures, words, music, drama.)

Goal 2, Standard 3To use English to achieve academically in all content areas: Students will use appropriate learning strategies to construct and apply academic knowledge
Indicators: rehearse and visualize information
Make pictures to check comprehension of a story or process

Equipment Needed:
The icky sticky frog
The power point slideshow about life cycle of a frog
Butcher’s paper and construction papers
Pencils
CD (The tadpole song)
The various colored origami papers
Focus Sheet A-1 (Dance Procedures)
Focus Sheet A-2 (Vocabulary sheet)
Focus Sheet A-3 (Vocabulary sheet)
Focus Sheet A-4 (Checklist)
Worksheet A-1 (Graphic organizer)
Worksheet A-2 (Flow Map Template)

Warm Up:
Teacher will read ‘The icky sticky frog’ to students. Teacher will brainstorm the each stages of a frog. Teacher will let them see the power point slideshow about the life cycle of a frog. Teacher will ask students what they know about a frog, tadpole or toad.

Task Chain 1: To know the scientific terms of the stages of a frog (Content Objective)

1. Hand out Focus Sheet A-2 (Vocabulary)
2. Teacher will review Vocabulary Words that are on the sheet.
3. Students will find the objects in the story, the icky sticky frog.
4. Students will learn the every each stages of a frog.
5. Teacher will play CD, the tadpole song and teach each movement for that song (Focus Sheet A-1)
6. Students sing and dance.

Task Chain 2: To write a procedural writing about a life cycle of a frog (Language Objective)

1. Teacher explain how to write procedural writing
2. Pass out worksheet A-1: Graphic organizer
3. Students complete worksheet A-1
4. Students write their own procedural writing.
5. tudents evaluate their writing by themselves with Focus sheet A-4: Check List
6. Teacher revises students writings.

Task Chain 3: To use a cycle diagram to create the life cycle of a frog. (Learning Objective)

1. Review new vocabulary in small groups.
2. Students make an origami of frog and
3. Students draw pictures and clue the frog then complete their group project.
4. Pass out Focus Sheet A-4.
5. Using the pictures drawn, students will work in pairs to create a flow map of the correct sequence of the stages of a frog.
6. Teacher and students discuss results. Each group must state the sequence using the correct vocabulary.

Formative Assessment:

Have students identify the new vocabulary in the story in task chain 1 - 5 points
Evaluate the completed Focus Sheet A-3 in task chain 2 - 5 points
Evaluate the completed Focus Sheet A-4 in task chain 3 - 5 points
Students must also verbalize the correct stages using the vocabulary - 5 points

Summative Assessment:

Monitor all students as they perform the dance. Watch to see if all students know which stage is next by using the correct moves.

References :

Diaz-Rico, L. T. (2008). Strategies for Teaching English Learners. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

TESOL. 2002. ESL Standards for Pre-K Students: Grade K. Retrieved October 16, 2008, from http://www.teosl.org/.


Focus Sheet A-1 (Let’s learn and mimic tadpoles)




Focus Sheet A-3 (Vocabulary Words)

Focus Sheet A-4 (Check list)

Worksheet A-1 (Graphic Organizer)



Worksheet A-2 (Flow Map Template)

Yunjeong's Blog

Yunjeong is such a brilliant English teacher and always considering what is the most efficient way for her students.

I was interested in reading her review of chapter 5. She asked “Sometimes even I feel curious about why Korean students are too much passive in class. Is it because characteristics of a nation? Or have they been influenced by Confucianism which requires students to listen to teachers?”

Many teachers have had the experience of facing a classroom of highly disciplined yet passive learners who will do everything necessary to achieve high grades but have little desire to learn anything that is not required. Given that choice, most teachers would prefer learners who are both self-motivated and self-managed. So autonomy enables students to feel pride in their own achievements.

As she said that if learners have appropriate motivation together, they can maximize the effect, I totally agree her opinion. I used to meet some elementary students who are getting less and less interest to study English and seem to have no motivation to learn. How can I help them? What is a good strategy for them?
We joined this course because we wanted to find a good solution for these question.

Inyoung's Blog

Inyoung is one of the most hard-working students of this class. She is operating her own academy and enthusiastic to improve her students’ English.

In study group discussion, we used to discuss ‘why Koreans learn English?’ As you know, Koreans are likely to say because they have to get good scores at standardized English tests in order to get a good job, get admission from universities in English-speaking countries, or get a promotion at work. As an English teacher, we’re confused what teacher’s is. She said “To teach test skills in grammar and reading is excellent as a teacher, but I can't tell that I'm good at teaching spoken English. 99% of parents ask me good scores for their children and it makes me focus on teaching test skills... But I believe language learning should help learners express their ideas and emotions freely. I hope to manage my class with discussion, debate, presentation and writing various papers but I'm sure that I'll lose most of my students.”

But I know that our children’s English ability is getting better and better because of Korean English teachers’ effort and passion as like Inyoung.

Chapter 7. Literacy Instruction for English-Language Development

I was interested in the example of a child learning to ride a bicycle which May and Rizzardi used. (p170) She had repeated to try to ride a bicycle even thogh fell off the seat twenty times then finally she learned. She said the joy of the first ride is exhilarating. In a similar way, we do not teach children to speak by having them repeat syllables until they can put together a whole word. Reading is a cognitive activity that must be learned in a brain compatible way. The reason is human like stories.

Sometimes I met many Korean old teachers who are teaching phonics very efficiently to high graders as like 4th or 5th students. Their cognitive level is able to help them understand the rule of phonics very well and actually they can read English within 1-2 months after they started learning English. But I'm not sure they understand a whole story or long sentence as much as they can make pronunciation.

Emergent literacy instruction is most beneficial when it begins early in the preschool period because these difficulties are persistent and often affect children's further language and literacy learning throughout the school years. Promoting literacy development, however, is not confined to young children. Older children, particularly those with speech and language impairments, may be functioning in the emergent literacy stage and require intervention aimed at establishing and strengthening these skills that are essential to learning to read and write.

Chapter 6 Oracy Instruction That Builds on the First Language

I was really interested in the part of “Authentic task in and out of the real world” I think we, all remember the video clip for Spanish conversational online activity we watched at CALL class. The students can obtain many opportunities and skills through this authentic task such as,

First, learners have opportunities to interact socially and negotiate meaning. Interaction is very important factor to learn other languages.

Second, learners interact in the target language with an authentic audience. It is hard to use a computer for studying by themselves. The teacher help them paying attention to become an authentic audience. There are a lot of entertainments on computer, how do we let students focus on the learning program?

Third, learners are involved in authentic tasks. For our purpose, an authentic task is one that learns perceive they will sue outside of class in their real world. One of students in the video asked a question ten times though they got right answer. They tried to fulfill their authentic tasks.

Forth, learners are exposed to and encouraged to produce varied and creative language. In the video through talking about common stuffs they could produce creative language comfortably.

When I was a college student, I hardly met English native persons in real world, even out of the real world, as author expressed, on-line. (L. Diaz-, p.151). I studied TOEFL very hard but I never got a chance to practice my English with a native speakers. That’s why my listening and speaking ability are not still good.I think ‘Authentic task’ is really needed in order to learn other language and effective way.Also the part of improving pronunciation(p155) was helpful to me. If students had enough chance to practice their pronunciation and intonations, they would be more confident to communicate with native speakers, even though we hardly pronounce r, f, v, and z.

Chapter 5 Learner Strategies and Learner-Focused Teaching

We need to ask the question of why Koreans learn English. If you ask Koreans why they study English, they are likely to say because they have to get good scores at standardized English tests in order to get a good job, get admission from universities in English-speaking countries, or get a promotion at work. Those who want to learn English to communicate with their English speaking friends don't attend hagwons, they hang out with English speaking friends. Those who want to learn English to understand Hollywood movies don't go to hagwons, they download Hollywood movies. So if you're an English teacher at a hagwon, your students are most likely studying English to nail that TOEFL, TOEIC or TEPS which will get them their dream job.

Though tests like the TOEFL do have a speaking section, that speaking section is very predictable and Koreans found a way to study for it. Rather than spending time having conversation with English speakers to improve their skills in a language they don't like speaking, they memorize sample answers (sometimes as many as 500-1,000 sample answers) and use the sample sentences during the test. What they are looking for is a good score, not the ability to prove that they can speak good English.

In my opinion, Korean students are the best of self-motivated and self-managed to study English all over the world. But the goal of learning and strategies seem to be totally distorted and bended. We tend to be more interested in the test result than the process to learn the target language and to establish the strategy to learn English efficiently.

Chapter 4 Performance-Based Learning

The best way to discover how students think, or to diagnose where they are having difficulties in learning-which, aside from accountability and placement, is the main reason for testing-is to give them as much range as possible to express themselves fully, and to assess their learning in its natural context, as they make active use of the skill. (Diaz-Rico, 2008, p.80)

We provide book rental program to our kindergarten students. Before children borrow books to take home, they have to take an assessment test for ability of reading comprehension then they can borrow the appropriate books through test result. It is called SRI, Scholastic Reading Inventor is designed to measure how well students understand literary and expository texts of varying degrees of difficulty. SRI measures reading comprehension by focusing on the skills readers use when studying written materials from various content areas. These skills include identifying details in a passage, identifying cause-and-effect relationships and the sequence of events, drawing conclusions, and making comparisons and generalizations. Based on the reading level, it gives each student a personalized reading list of books matched to his or her interests and measured reading level.

It helps that every children like reading. I like this program because of no children left behind.

Chapter 3 Views of Teaching and Learning

I was most impressed with the part of humanistic education approach.In schools today, there are many different views on what is the best approach thateducators should use to teach our students. One important view to consider whendeciding which approach to use is the humanistic view of education. The major focus ofhumanistic education is the development of the whole child (i.e., the development of astudent’s emotions, values, self-concept, goals, and needs).

In the information age, the objectives of the humanistic theory are important in that they relate to the trends that are currently taking place in the workforce. However, the results of a meta-analysis demonstrate that the programs developed under the rubric of humanistic education did not achieve these objectives with students. As educators, we must analyze the importance of these objectives, describe why the results of the meta-analysis possibly occurred, and find possible solutions to the problems.

Before I read this chapter, I had a restrictive role for English teacher such as a typical image of teacher who can teach students well. But I realize that we, teachers can influence our student extensively and cover wide range of their life.

Teacher Interview on Grading Practices

My first son, Patrick is a 5th grader in Great Oaks Elementary School in Austin, Texas. I had an interview with his homeroom teacher, Mr. Gene Grubb about grading system of Great Oaks Elementary School. He has 8 year- teaching experience as a elementary school teacher and graduate from Central Texas University.

Grading System
Students will be evaluated with due consideration, and recognition will be given to individual differences. Class work, homework, and test grades will be used to evaluate student performance. Teacher observation of activities may also be used. In kindergarten, a checklist and a parent conference will be provided instead of letter grades.

Grading Scale for Grades 1 - 5


In grades 1 and 2 an S for "satisfactory" and a U for "unsatisfactory" will be used for science, health, and social studies. S and U will be used in all grades for art, physical education, music, and handwriting if a grade is given.In grades 3 through 5 students will receive a reading grade, a math grade, a social studies grade, an ELA grade (which will be made up of 40% English, 40% composition and 20% spelling), and a science/health grade (these two subjects have been combined with science being 80% and health being 20%). We will no longer give letter grades for conduct but will give comments instead. S and U will be used in all grades for art, physical education, music, and handwriting if a grade is given.

• Excellent A 93 - 100
• Above Average B 85 - 92
• Average C 77 - 84
• Below Average D 70 - 76
• Failing F Below 70

Kindergarten Grades

Kindergarten report cards will be narrative reports and/or a checklist reflecting academic achievement standards instead of letter grades. Achievement of this checklist is required for promotion to first grade.


Honor Roll

• 1st - 3rd grades must have all A's to make the honor roll. This is a non-published list but students do receive recognition.
  
• 4th - 5th grades must have all A's or all A's and B's to make the honor roll given the increased difficulty of their work. This is a published list and the students do receive recognition.

Promotion and Retention

To be promoted, a student must satisfactorily complete the minimum criteria established by the State Board of Education as mandated by the Accountability Act of 1998. Promotion to the next level of work or retention in the same grade or subject level shall be the cooperative recommendation of the teacher and principal.

Kindergarten - Completion of the kindergarten state standards leads to placement in first grade. Retention in kindergarten will be based on an evaluation of the child as indicated by formal and informal instruments, with input from teachers, principal, parents, and other appropriate district personnel.

Grades 1 – 5 - Reading and math proficiency will be determined by meeting state standards, state assessments, scores, mastery tests, teacher-made tests, and samples of assigned work. In addition, other objective measures may be utilized. The following criteria will apply for promotion considerations for all students in grades one through five:

• Grade 1 Successful completion of grade one reading and math state standards and/or significant improvement in reading and math based on objective measures.


• Grades 2 – 5 A yearly passing average in reading and math and/or significant improvement in reading and math of at least one grade level based on objective measures (based on successful completion of the academic plan or summer school, if required or recommended).

In addition to meeting the mastery criteria for reading and mathematics in grades three through five, a student must pass at least two of the three academic courses (language arts, science, social studies).

The promotion or retention of a student in grades one through five should be determined on a case-by-case basis with input from teachers, parents, principal, and appropriate school personnel in accordance with the local accountability plan. Written documentation must be given when other factors override academic standards. When a student is administratively assigned (placed) and has not met mastery standards appropriate for his/her grade level, a document signed by the parent/guardian and the principal is made a part of the student’s cumulative record.